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Monday, 16 April 2012

Bridging the Gap Between Landscape and Abstraction | David Wightman: Paramour | Halcyon Gallery | London

Born in Stockport, David Wightman's first exposure to art was through the Manchester Art Gallery where he became captivated by the pre-Raphaelite collection and the fantasy worlds of William Holman-Hunt and John William Waterhouse. Wightman has come a long way since those early days. In 2010, Wightman was awarded a fellowship in Berwick-upon-Tweed by Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship, English Heritage and has exhibited at Sumarria Lunn, Cornerhouse, William Angel Gallery and Found Gallery.

Wightman's latest exhibition at Halcyon Gallery is the first solo exhibition of works by the artist and shows over 15 new works completed between 2011 and 2012. Bridging the genres of landscape and abstraction, Wightman's work holds a graphic preciseness that has earned him extensive recognition.

Inspired by Caspar David Friedrich and Ad Reinhardt, Wightman creates his landscape and abstract paintings using a systematic process that relies on craft and discipline. Every work is made from individual pieces of wallpaper, painstakingly cut with a surgical scalpel and placed side by side, never overlapping. After stretching a canvas, he applies the wallpaper, then sands and primes the work, ready for painting.

The exhibition catalogue includes an introduction from Cherie Federico, Editor of Aesthetica. We've included a short excerpt below:

"You must spend time with Wightman’s paintings; on the surface they are beautiful and intricate, but like the layers they are made from, there is so much depth to these works – they contemplate not only artifice, but also the natural versus the manmade. His combination of craft and skill redefines genres and blurs meaning. As an emerging artist, this show at Halcyon is his first major foray into the international art world, but it’s only a matter of time until David Wightman justifiably gains wider recognition."

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

I have lived with two of David's "target" paintings for the past five years. The freshness of them struck me first. True I have seen the target motif used before but it was the intricacy of the scalpel work that hit me first and still does today. Yes I know this makes one think of artisan rather than artist but perhaps that is the point? David alludes to working class roots and the wallpaper clearly emphasises this. And then there is the bold colours, they are a challenge. Now I know it is ill to think of art in mundane ways but I am no critic, as you'll have seen but they look perfect in my 1960's tower block and I for one don't care if that seems crass. I love them.

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Aesthetica engages with the arts both in the UK and internationally, combining dynamic content with compelling critical debate. Aesthetica is distributed in the UK in WH Smith, major galleries such as Tate Modern, ICA, and the Serpentine, as well as in 18 countries worldwide. Aesthetica is one of the leading publications for arts and culture and the editor of Aesthetica is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. The Aesthetica Blog has a broad scope; covering the latest exhibitions and cultural events from the UK and abroad.
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